Downtown Redwood City keeps trying. Over the last several years, revitalization has made streets and storefronts more attractive and historic buildings have been upgraded but, with just a couple of exceptions, restaurants have had a tough time. Milagros aims to change that.

Opened in late May at the intersection of Middlefield Road and Main Street, across the street from the main library, Milagros makes the most of its prominent location. Its spacious heated patio right on the corner practically demands passersby stop in. Wide doors open the patio up to the interior, filled with Mexican folk art.

The art is everywhere, from masks on the transom over the front windows and doors, to Day of the Dead statues on the counter facing the open kitchen and a wonderful wooden skeletal band mounted on the wall by the restrooms. But it's so dim inside that it's hard to appreciate it all -- here's one case where turning up the lights would be worthwhile.

The rest of the interior is fun, too, with fat candles in hammered tin holders, small painted wooden tables and chairs in the bar and larger carved wooden tables in the main dining area off the patio. If you're at one of the larger tables, be aware that servers have to weave around them to get from the kitchen to the patio, which can add to the bustle. Bright fiesta- style plates and blue Mexican glassware complete the look. But there's virtually no upholstery, so it's very noisy when the place is full.

The party atmosphere is fueled by a long list of cocktails and tequilas. Fruity, potent sangria is a relative bargain at $5 a glass, $22 a pitcher. Margaritas are $6-$8, good matches with the complimentary freshly made chips and two fiery salsas.

Perhaps because the bar list is so extensive, there's a wide choice of starters to go along, several made with fresh seafood. Gazpacho oyster shooters are one of the best -- at $6.75 for three, they're pricey, but if you enjoy slurping 'em down, these are great. The two ceviches ($7.50 for mahi- mahi, $8.25 for sea bass, $12.95 for a sampler of both) are also good, especially the avocado-laced mahi-mahi fired up with serrano chiles. For something more substantial, try El Puerto Nuevo ($9.25). King crab legs are sauteed with garlicky mix that includes lime juice, tequila, cilantro and chiles. They're delicious, if you're willing to fight with the shells.

Other starters aren't quite as successful. Guacamole ($7.25) is fine, but much of what comes on the Milagros Sampler ($19.95, but priced individually) isn't -- the carnitas empanadas and black bean sopes are leaden, the chicken taquitos just OK. The individual ingredients on the watercress, jicama and avocado salad ($6.50) are good but are drowned by too much of the overly heavy orange and lime vinaigrette.

The rest of the menu is also a roster of hits and misses. The hits include a pair of crunchy beer-battered mahi-mahi tacos ($9.25) and mildly flavored carnitas soft tacos ($5.50 for one, $7.25 for two, $8.25 for three), both served with rice and black beans. But if you like to play with your food, go for Tacos Para la Mesa ($19.95), a make-your-own taco sampler for two. Choose from carnitas, carne asada (on the dry side, unfortunately) grilled chicken, or all three, along with all the fixings and flour and corn tortillas.

The kitchen clearly knows how to handle mahi-mahi, because the Veracruz entree ($14.50), garnished with salsa, a mango puree, black beans and sturdy fried plantains, is excellent. Another seafood dish, El Camarones Borracho ($14.75) -- basically, prawn fajitas -- is also very good. But the seafood enchilada ($15.50) -- a mishmash of rock shrimp, mahi-mahi, swordfish and crab,

mixed up with cheeses and salsa -- is just that: a mishmash.

Carne del Diablo ($18.25), a chile-marinated flank steak, is also disappointing -- dry and tough. Chicken fajitas ($13.50) are also on the dry side, and underseasoned to boot, although all the accompaniments help immensely, and the carne asada burrito ($11.50), nicely sliced in half and piled high, features a too-chewy tortilla wrapper and somewhat dry filling.

Desserts take some traditional Mexican sweets and run with them. Bread pudding ($5.50) is dense and sticky with lots of cinnamon-nutmeg caramel; deep- fried ice cream ($6.50) gets its delicate crust from a coating of crushed biscotti and a dip in hot oil. Mango Madness ($6) features mango in two guises -- sliced fresh, with other fruit, and paired with lime and mango sorbets.

Service is generally energetic and enthusiastic, which befits a busy new restaurant, but there are also lapses, like not knowing who gets what dish, dirty dishes left on the table too long and occasionally waiting too long for the check. But those flaws are easily corrected. Hopefully, the proprietors -- veteran restaurateurs who also own Mistral in Redwood Shores, Nola in Palo Alto, A Tavola in San Carlos, and the new Kingfish in San Mateo -- will put energy into the kitchen of their new venture.

If more of the food can be brought to the level of the restaurant's decor and ambience, Redwood City will have a vibrant dining destination on its hands.

NAME: Milagros
ADDRESS: 1099 Middlefield Road (at Main Street), Redwood City
PHONE: 650) 369-4730
HOURS: Lunch 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Monday-Friday; dinner 5:30-10 p.m. Monday-
Thursday, until 11 p.m. Friday-Saturday, until 9 p.m. Sunday. Full bar.
Reservations. Credit cards. Street and nearby city lot parking.
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OVERALL: TWO STARS
Food: TWO STARS
Service: TWO STARS
Atmosphere: THREE STARS
.
PRICES: $$
NOISE RATING: BOMB
.
PLUSES: Great decor, fun atmosphere, wonderful sidewalk patio, several good
seafood dishes.
MINUSES: Some dishes are ordinary or dry and under-seasoned; service is still
a work in progress.
RATINGS KEY
FOUR STARS: Extraordinary
THREE STARS: Excellent
TWO STARS: Good
ONE STAR: Fair
(box): Poor
.
$ Inexpensive:entrees under $10
$$ Moderate:$10-$17
$$$ Expensive: $18-$24
$$$$ Very Expensive:more than $25
Prices based on main courses. When entrees fall between these categories, the
prices of appetizers help determine the dollar ratings.
.
ONE BELL: Pleasantly quiet (under 65 decibels)
TWO BELLS: Can talk easily (65-70)
THREE BELLS: Talking normally gets difficult (70-75)
FOUR BELLS: Can only talk in raised voices (75-80)
BOMB: Too noisy for normal conversation (80+)
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Chronicle critics make every attempt to remain anonymous.
All meals are paid for by the Chronicle.
Star ratings are based on a minimum of three visits.
Ratings are updated continually based on a least one revisit.